Year V Chapter 2-History of India CHAPTER TWO History of India 42 Year V Chapter 2-History of India 2.1.1 Introduction to History of India The Earth is 4.55 billion years old The oldest rocks which have been found so far (on the Earth) date to about 3.8 to 3.9 billion years ago (by several radiometric dating methods). Some of these rocks are sedimentary, and include minerals which are themselves as old as 4.1 to 4.2 billion years. Rocks of this age are relatively rare, however rocks that are at least 3.5 billion years in age have been found on North America, Greenland, Australia, Africa, and Asia. The first Upright Ape is 5 to 7 million years old An analysis of six-million-year-old bones from an early human ancestor that lived in what is now Kenya suggests that the species was the earliest known hominine (humans and their ancestors), to walk. "This provides really solid evidence that these fossils actually belong to an upright-walking early human ancestor," said study lead author Brian Richmond, a biological anthropologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Lucy is 3.5 Million years Old Lucy was found by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray on the 30th of November, 1974, at the site of Hadar in Ethiopia. After many hours of excavation, screening, and sorting, several hundred fragments of bone had been recovered, representing 40% of a single hominid skeleton. 43 Year V Chapter 2-History of India Human being (Homo sapiens) evolved 300,000 years ago India has evidence of Human living for about 50,000 years Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in Central India indicate that India might have been inhabited somewhere between 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. Recent finds in Tamil Nadu (at c. 75,000 years ago, before and after the explosion of the Toba volcano) indicate the presence of the first anatomically modern humans in the area . 44 Year V Chapter 2-History of India 2.1.2 Introduction to Timeline of India Prehistoric 3000BC Vedic and earlier Period 2000 BC 1000 BC 600 BC Indus Valley Civilization Rise of Jainism and Golden Buddhism Period 600 BC 400 BC 0 AD 1200 AD Maurya Period 45 Year V Chapter 2-History of India Muslim The British Invasion Rule 1200 AD 1500 AD 1800 AD 1900 AD Mughal Empire Freedom Future of Movement India 1900 AD 1947 AD 2010 AD Free Modern India 46 Year V Chapter 2-History of India 2.1.3 Pre Historic India (Stone Age) 70000 – 50000 BC: Migrations to India through Land bridges 8000 – 5000 BC: Rock art in Bhimbetka, Bhopal, state of Madhya Pradesh. Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in Central India indicate that India might have been inhabited somewhere between 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. Recent finds in Tamil Nadu (at c. 75,000 years ago, before and after the explosion of the Toba volcano) indicate the presence of the first anatomically modern humans in the area. Edakkal Caves are two natural caves located 1000 meters high on Ambukutty Mala 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India's Western Ghats. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to be from neolithic man, evidence of the presence of a prehistoric civilization existing in this region. Such Stone Age carvings are very rare and these are the only known examples in southern India. The petroglyphs inside the cave are of at least three distinct types. The oldest may date back over 8000 years ago. Evidence indicates that the Edakkal caves had been inhabited at several different times in history. Before 3000 BC Artifacts dating back to as much as 500,000 years have been found in Prehistoric Rock Art Cave 3, Bhimbetka The "caves" (actually, deep overhangs) of Bhimbetka, near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, were decorated with art beginning in the Neolithic period (approximately 8000 BC) and continuing in some caves into historic times. According to a local guide, the paintings in Cave 3 date to 5,000 BC. All Bhimbetka dates in the following pages are quoted as they were recited by this guide. 47 Year V Chapter 2-History of India Prehistoric Rock Art Cave 4, Bhimbetka Date quoted as 8,000 BC. A plentiful herd of different kinds of game is depicted here. Prehistoric Rock Art Cave 4, Bhimbetka Date quoted as 8,000 BC. A plentiful herd of different kinds of game is depicted here. Prehistoric Rock Art Cave 6, Bhimbetka Date quoted as 8,000 BC. 48 Year V Chapter 2-History of India Prehistoric Rock Art Cave 8, Bhimbetka Date quoted as 3,000 BC. However, note the horse riders. 3,000 BC seems quite early for the domestication of the horse in India, which more likely accompanied the Aryan invasions of the second millennium BC. (one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BC to c. 2500 BC ( هڑگرﮩم :Mehrgarh , (Urdu sites in archaeology, lies on what is now the "Kachi plain" of today's Balochistan, Pakistan. Excavated by French archeologists in the year 1973, this city contains six mounds with different strata of early settlements. The oldest mound showed a Neolithic village which dates to 6000 BC. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia. In April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic ) evidence in human history for the drilling of teeth in vivo (i.e. in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. Findings clearly showed that transition from nomadic huntsmen to mature agriculturists occurred very early in these settlements. Sometime in the middle of 3000-2000 BC Mehrgarh was suddenly abandoned. 49 Year V Chapter 2-History of India 2.2.1 Cities of Prehistoric India – Precursor to Indus Valley civilization There are four major cities which provided evidence for pre-existing indigenous settlements before the Mohanjo-Daro (“Mound of the Dead”) and the Harappan (“Hara”- is a name for Shiva) civilizations. These cities were: Mehrgarh, Amri, Kalibangan and Lothal. Together they reflected four important sequential phases in the prehistoric era, which gradually resulted in the evolution and later the demise of the Indus Valley civilization: • 1st phase: transition of nomadic herdsman to settled agriculturists (Mehrgarh) • 2nd phase: continued growth to large villages and developing towns (Amri) • 3rd phase: emergence of great cities (Kalibangan and Lothal) • 4th phase: decline (Kalibangan and Lothal) Amri Excavated in the period 1959-1969, Amri provided evidence for four stages of the Indus Valley culture: Pre-Harappan, Early Harappan, Mature Harappan and the Jhangar (Late Harappan) culture. Amri’s earliest strata dates back to 4000 BC, but its height of development is in the period 3000 – 2500 BC (which is coincidental with the time Mehrgarh was abandoned). Several types of ceramics including those produced on potters’ wheels with decorated geometric patterns were found in Amri. Kalibangan Kalibangan was founded around 2400 BC near the Ghaggar River. Many of the interesting features seen in other cities, such as brick buildings, ceramics and well developed sewage systems, were also seen in this city. Sometime around 2250 BC this city was abandoned due to unknown reason, and was reconstructed 50 to 100 years later, with a design similar to that of Mohanjo- Daro and Harappa. The interesting feature in this new city was the presence of fire- 50 Year V Chapter 2-History of India altars, providing the evidence for use of fire for worship before Aryan migration to these regions. The new Kalibangan city existed until 1700 BC after which it was abandoned. The reason is believed to be due to the drying up of the Ghaggar River. Lothal Lothal near Ahmadabad was founded much later than the other three settlements and was constructed around 2100 BC. It is believed to be an important port for trade between the Indus civilization and Mesopotamia. It was also used for supplying raw materials for cities in the Indus valley such as cotton from Gujarat and copper from Rajasthan. The decline of Lothal came around 1700 BC and is believed to be Artistic depiction of Lothal, the port -city due to the reduction in demand for these materials, which occurred due to the decline of other great cities in the Indus valley. Misconceptions that the above cities resolve: (1) Before Harappa and Mohanjo-Daro were excavated in 1920, the Indo-Aryans were considered to be the creators of the first culture in India. The Vedic Indo- Aryans came to the Indus around 1500BC. But the Indus valley civilization proved to be much older. (2) Even after Harappa and Mohanjo-Daro were excavated, they were only extensions of the Mesopotamian civilization. However, the excavations of the different strata, which date back to 7000 BC, in Mehrgarh, Kalibangan and Amri showed the gradual indigenous evolution in these settlements which lead to the Indus valley civilization. While there were links with Mesopotamia (through trade), the belief that the Indus valley civilization was just an extension of the Mesopotamian civilization was not correct. Reference : Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, A History of India (Barnes and Noble, 1996) 51 Year V Chapter 2-History of India 2.2.2 Indus Valley Civilization (Bronze Age) 3000 BC: Beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization 2500 BC: Establishment of the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley 2000 BC: Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization 1600 BC: India is invaded by the Aryans from the west who drive away the Dravidians 1100 BC: With the discovery of iron, Indo-Aryans start using iron tools The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC ) was a Bronze Age civilization (mature period 2600– 1900 BCE) which was centered mostly in the western part of the Indian Subcontinent and which flourished around the Indus river basin.